Forever A Rebellious Streak
by HardyGal
Summary: The Decepticons have won the war. Those Autobot who have survived live under them as slaves and pets, breaking one by one. But for some, the rebellious streak never dies. (It's just a bit harder to see).


**A/N HardyGal: This is strongly based off a fic called ****_Take it Easy_**** by Alixier, in the Transformers movie section. It really made an impression on me in two ways or more. For one, it began my humanized obsession; I had not expected at all for it to be humanized, and the idea was new and fascinating for me. For another, it had such 'Bee angst, and for some reason I loved it. For another, it was one of the very first TF fanfictions I ever read. So yeah. The end result is what I guess you could call an Animated version of Take it Easy. I don't know if this is going to be a long one shot, or a series of 'slightly' depressing chapters, but it's angsty, it's humanized (why not?), and I'm gonna write it.**

**I don't own Transformers or ****_Take it Easy_****, bla bla bla bla bla.**

"Will you just accept it already?"

"No!"

There was a struggle in the middle of streets of Cybertron, but no passers by stopped to help. It was a reasonably old sight to most. A couple pointed, and smirked. The few that followed the smirkers looked on sadly.

The teenager struggled against the taller, stronger man's grip, screaming 'No!' or 'I won't!' or 'You can't keep me!' or 'Let me go you slagging Decepticon!'

Starscream grit his teeth frustratedly. It had been entertaining when Megatron had offered the young scout as his trophy, seeing the usually hyper, uncontainable Autobot reduced to the worthlessness that he really was. But it wasn't until the blond had shown his typical stubbornness against the humiliation and prospect of being a Decepticon pet, that Starscream remembered how annoying the youngling really was.

He had tried to run away… again. The child was fast, but not fast enough. Bumblebee had almost felt like breaking down and crying in front of everybody when the familiar hand had gripped the back of his hoodie… again.

Growling, the dark headed seeker backhanded the teen viciously, and threw him across the street. Bumblebee lay there, stunned for a moment, unable to move. The Decepticons skirted around him casually, and only glares from the 'Cons prevented any Autobots from reaching out to their young ally.

Starscream stalked over to his prize, grumbling, but was stopped in his tracks. A young man, of about twenty-six, moved the the teen into a sitting position, so his head resting on the man's shoulder. The man glared up at Starscream as he approached.

"Why-don't-you-pick-on-someone-your-own-size?-Though-maybe-that-is-too-much-to-ask-of-a-Decepticon-especially-you-You-would-be-the-type-to-fight-a-youngling-would-you?" He said all this very rapidly, but there was no mistaking that he was very angry. His tattered blue shirt and jeans, and the Autobot insignia burned into his hand were revealing enough. As was the mere fact that he was helping Bumblebee.

"Step away, Autobot." The seeker spat out the last word like poison. "I ought to kill you right now for even looking at me like that! Unless of course, you belong to someone," he added thoughtfully. Returning a runaway Autobot ought to be worth something.

"I-belong-to-no-one," the young man spat back.

Very dramatically, a shadow fell over the two dejected looking Autobots. "I would not say that, Agent Blurr," said a monotonous British accent.

For the first time, the resolve seemed to crumble from the former Elite agent, and he seemed to cringe. Shockwave seized him sharply by the arm, and pulled him to his feet. He turned his one eye to Starscream.

"Thank you for stalling him, Starscream," Shockwave said curtly. Blurr bowed his head. It seemed as though only his master's grip kept him from collapsing right there.

"Yes, of course," Starscream said self righteously. Without talking further, the former double-agent walked off, Blurr following, head bowed, one hand covering his eyes. In Starscream's opinion, it was the pathetic look of a mech who had finally broken.

Bumblebee had managed to get his wits about him, but a strong hand kept him to his knees, and another seized his hair and painfully jerked his head up, forcing him to watch the retreating pair.

"Look," the Decepticon SIC hissed. "This is what you Autobots have been reduced to." He indicated the Decepticon insignias, seeming to cover everything; billboards, buildings, the clothes of the passers-by. "This is what your world has been transformed into." He gripped Bumblebee's right hand, on which the Autobot insignia was burned, raw and red, drawing a cry of pain from the teen. "This is what your precious Autobot symbol has been turned into… no more than the mark of a pathetic pet."

Bumblebee tried to jerk himself free, tried to block out the words, which hurt more than the blows he had received, or even the brand on his hand. He was used to harsh words, but this seemed to be the only time since Boot camp when they actually hurt like the Pit. Being helped by a seemingly resolute Blurr, only to have him crumble as soon as his… master had come. And always… trying in vain to escape, only to be dragged, quite literally, kicking and screaming and completely humiliated, back to horrible reality…

Starscream's words brought all this home to him.

"No, no," he said, a bit quieter, as if he were trying to convince himself. "Not a pet. Not now, not ever."

Starscream grinned, sensing the cracks in the wall. He pulled the blond teenager to his feet, holding the back of his neck in a deceptively gentle hold. "You just keep telling yourself that, pet," he murmured. "But why do you resist so, child? I doubt your friends have caused as much trouble as you have."

Bumblebee's shoulders rose slightly as he tensed. It had been an agonizing thought for a long time, ever since that fateful day when Megatron had won, and that red hot iron had been pressed to his hand… Where were his friends? Where was his family?

"I have a reputation to keep," he replied simply, and waited for the inevitable blow for his trademark cheek.

But instead, Starscream chuckled, and ran a hand through his dirty blond hair, making 'Bee shudder. The sudden change was… unnerving. And that Sire-like gesture felt so foreign. It shook Bumblebee more than anything, and his resolute wall shook with him.

"That ninja-bot… I believe Lockdown has his hold on him," Starscream continued. "And your 'leader' Optimus Prime is under the great, glorious Megatron."

The former scout bowed his head. He'd thought as much. He hadn't a clue where Bulkhead or Ratchet were, and in his opinion it was probably best he didn't, but Prowl and Optimus were almost no-brainers. In a way, it was flattery to Optimus… one of the lowliest of the Primes, able to have annoyed Megatron enough to have been kept alive as an example.

Starscream's voice broke through his thoughts. "But my pet… I did warn you that another escapade like this would result you being in solitary… indefinitely."

"No!" Bumblebee pulled himself free, instead of bolting, turned to Starscream, seizing the seeker's jacket in a desperate hold. His blue eyes reflected a fear that no one would have expected in the teen. "Please, no!" The darkness. "I-I promise…!" The silence. "I won't…!" The _isolation_. "I'll be good, I promise! I won't… I won't do anything! Just…"

He faltered, and leaned his forehead against Starscream's chest, still gripping the jacket. A few of the Autobots eyed the teen with a great sadness. Another 'Bot had broken.

Starscream looked down at the youngling in surprise. But of course he had seen the child after his solitary confinement punishments… He looked very subdued and was very subdued. Perhaps one too many had finally broken the rebellion that still thrived in the irritating scout.

"Come, pet," Starscream said firmly, but not snapping the words. He held the young Autobot's shoulder, and the two walked back towards their living quarters.

Bumblebee still kept a tight grip on Starscream's jacket, eyes still fixed on the ground, only the seeker preventing him from running into walls. Starscream lived on the top floor in one of the buildings. Actually, the entire floor belonged to him. He liked it up there. It made him feel so powerful to look down on Cybertron from up there.

"Go clean yourself up, and meet me in the berth room," Starscream ordered curtly when they entered the apartment, and smirked when the youngling did so without question or remark.

After a quick shower, and putting on the fresh clothes Starscream had set out for him, Bumblebee looked at himself in the mirror. He seemed smaller than he had been (and that was saying a lot), and fresh bruises covered most of his arms, and even his neck. He could hardly be recognized as the same reckless teen who pulled ridiculous stunts and generally annoyed the slag out of everyone. 'Bee lowered his head, and walked towards his berth room.

Bumblebee slept - or sometimes slept; sleep wasn't that easy - at the foot of Starscream's bed. It beat the old cage that Bumblebee had been forced into when he had first been kept by Starscream, but there was something psychological about it. There were plenty of other rooms in the apartment, but Starscream made him sleep _there_. Like a pet.

Starscream was kicking back on his bed, playing with the umbrella on an energon cocktail, and staring out at a brightly lit Cybertron. When 'Bee came in, he hung back for a moment. Starscream, without turning his head, crooked a finger.

"Come closer."

The young Autobot obliged, standing at the edge of the bed, hands clasped behind his back, staring at the patterns in the quilt.

"You do not want to do solitary?"

Bumblebee looked up, frightened. "No… No, I don't."

Starscream turned an auburn eye on him. "You will not try to escape, or disobey me?"

"N-no. I promise."

"You promise, what?"

There was a slight moment's hesitation. "Master… Master, I promise. I promise, I won't do it again, master, just…" He sounded on the verge of panic.

Starscream put a finger to his pet's lips, silencing him. He smiled. He had won. Leaning towards the other side of the bed, to the side table drawer, the Decepticon pulled out a metal tag, attached to a collar, like a dog tag. Only it was a single tag. Swinging his legs off the bed, he eyed the trembling blond.

"Kneel," he said simply. Bumblebee obeyed, and felt the cold metal around his neck. It wasn't tight, but he wouldn't be able to take it off either.

An ownership tag.

Lifting his chin, Starscream examined his pet's face. A cut lip and bruise from the backhand he had received, and an expression of frightened submission. The seeker jerked his head at the foot of the bed.

"You may sleep."

Nodding, Bumblebee walked towards the foot of the bed. Starscream watched as he disappeared behind the it, and listened to the rustle of the quilt as his pet got comfortable. Normally he would be sleeping in a cage, or forced into solitary after his escapes. But not this won over teen.

Starscream got off his own bed, and spent the next few minutes looking out on Cybertron. He was smirking. He finally turned towards the small figure curled up in a quilt at the foot of his bed. The tag lay face upward on the pillow next to his face, fogging slightly as the child breathed.

_Property of Starscream._

Still smirking, Starscream stroked a finger gently on the teen's cheek in another false sire-like gesture. The pet whimpered, and shuddered. His master sighed, and left the room. He felt satisfied. At long last, those resolute walls were broken.

Somehow deep in his restless sleep, Bumblebee saw himself finally winning against Starscream. Never again was he going to lose to that slagging Decepticon. In real life, Bumblebee smiled as in his dreams, he placed a foot triumphantly on top of the high voiced man.

The wall still stood. Neither Starscream, nor even Bumblebee knew this, but the wall still stood. A rebellious streak never to be broken.


End file.
